US officials are reassuring Taiwan that no matter what Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) says about it during his summit with US President Barack Obama this week, Washington will not change its current policies.
“It is normal for a Chinese leader to raise Taiwan,” US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel told a media briefing on Tuesday.
“We will always make clear when the issue arises that we place great importance on stability across the [Taiwan] Strait,” he said. “We respect the right of the people on Taiwan to exercise their democratic rights and will continue to counsel restraint on the part of Beijing in order to maintain trust and stability.”
Photo: Reuters
Speaking at the same event, Daniel Kritenbrink, senior director for Asian affairs at the US National Security Council, said that the US respected Taiwan’s democratic process and had a long-standing position on cross-strait issues based on the “one China” policy, the six communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA).
“Our fundamental interest is in cross-strait stability,” he said.
Russel said that the US had an immensely complex relationship with China, one that was anchored in a commitment to prevent strategic rivalry and to ensure “we are working to reconcile our respective legitimate interests.”
“We are digging down on problem areas. That will be a significant dimension of the summit. We do not paper over our differences with China on important issues,” he said. “We have serious differences over what constitutes acceptable behavior in cyberspace and in maritime space — particularly in the South China Sea.”
He said there were also differences on human rights and the treatment of civil society, as well as financial and regulatory policy. Russel said that the US was not trying to contain China and that US policy was not hostile.
“The same rights that apply to the big and strong apply similarly to the small and weak. Freedom of navigation and freedom of over-flight are not rights that one country grants to another,” he said.
“Strong and important countries like China have to ensure that small neighbors have the ability to exercise those same rights,” he said.
Xi arrived in Seattle on Tuesday and is to meet with Obama at the White House later today and tomorrow.
As Xi arrived, the New York Times said that the US and China had been negotiating what could become the first arms control accord for cyberspace with a goal of announcing an agreement during Xi’s visit.
According to the newspaper, the deal would safeguard critical infrastructure during peacetime, but was not expected to cover contentious issues such as the theft of intellectual property or data.
An article by Bloomberg predicted that Xi’s visit would be overshadowed by China’s growing military assertiveness, its expanding economic espionage and its crackdown on human rights at home.
“We have to be cognizant the level of anxiety, competition and tension in our relationship is here to stay,” former US Department of State official Kurt Campbell was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
RSS